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Wear and tear on fence.

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L

Leone

Guest
The fence that runs behind the properties on our side of the street was installed 23 years ago by the builder and did not take into account boundary lines for the property sites that were sold. This past April during a heavey wind storm, a large portion of our fence blew down as a result of weakened and rotted fence posts. We have replaced the posts at different locations, leaving the cement structures that secured the old fence in the ground, rather than trying to dig them up and haul them out. My husband I hauled away all the old wood and did all the work to repair the fence behind our property, installing a fence post within our property boundaries with the thought that having a self contained fence would be best in the future. We left adequate space on the fence post adjacent to our neighbor's yard to allow then to repair the small section of their fence that went down as a result of the jointly used fence post which was rotted and broke away from the ground.

Our neighbor does not feel she is responsible for her fence, but that we are. She does not understand that the fence post was for joint use and our fence was not the sole reason that she has 4 to 5 pickets that need to be replaced. She is taking us to small claims court for $185 for repairs to her fence.

We offered her the pickets and told her we felt she needed to repair her own fence behind her property. Her response was that she doesn't want to have to do it.

What should we take with us to court, what exactly is it we should document. We have been in this house since it was built and in the past, all neighbors assumed responsibility for their property lines and for fences that were between two properties, the cost and often times the work was split evenly.

This is frustrating and I feel a terrible waste of the courts time, but I do not like the constant harassment from her or feeling bullied.

Please advise.
 


HomeGuru

Senior Member
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Leone:
The fence that runs behind the properties on our side of the street was installed 23 years ago by the builder and did not take into account boundary lines for the property sites that were sold. This past April during a heavey wind storm, a large portion of our fence blew down as a result of weakened and rotted fence posts. We have replaced the posts at different locations, leaving the cement structures that secured the old fence in the ground, rather than trying to dig them up and haul them out. My husband I hauled away all the old wood and did all the work to repair the fence behind our property, installing a fence post within our property boundaries with the thought that having a self contained fence would be best in the future. We left adequate space on the fence post adjacent to our neighbor's yard to allow then to repair the small section of their fence that went down as a result of the jointly used fence post which was rotted and broke away from the ground.

Our neighbor does not feel she is responsible for her fence, but that we are. She does not understand that the fence post was for joint use and our fence was not the sole reason that she has 4 to 5 pickets that need to be replaced. She is taking us to small claims court for $185 for repairs to her fence.

We offered her the pickets and told her we felt she needed to repair her own fence behind her property. Her response was that she doesn't want to have to do it.

What should we take with us to court, what exactly is it we should document. We have been in this house since it was built and in the past, all neighbors assumed responsibility for their property lines and for fences that were between two properties, the cost and often times the work was split evenly.

This is frustrating and I feel a terrible waste of the courts time, but I do not like the constant harassment from her or feeling bullied.

Please advise.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Do not be bullied but she is full of bull. If the fence is on your property you can do whatever you want. If the broken fence is on her property, she is responsible for her own fence.

Wooly Bully.
 

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